60's-80's African Imagi-nations

[v_lazy_dragon]

Hi All,
As some of you may know, I've been painting stuff for Post-War African Imagi-nations on and off for the last couple of years. Despite always meaning to, I never seem to have worked around to posting pictures of the project on the LAF before...
The back log, some fluff, random mutterings and a few other moderns bits can be seen here http://s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/topic/535969/16/

Here's a couple of quick pictures of the latest few additions to my forces, all awaiting basing (and eventually better photos):
Mercs (Mongrel, Baker Co.  and TAG) More to come, including quite a few conversions. Mongrel/Badger have some exciting sounding pack titles lined up (Merc personalities, Command 1 & 2 and a pack with Thompson, BAR & Brens)





Hardened Militia (MoFo)



Regulars (Not sure who these are going to yet - figures by Mongrel). Quite a few more of these chappies to come...











UN Peace Keepers (Generanation - Baker Co Vietnam figures)







And a couple of previews:



Photos from a game I played the other month can be found in this photobucket album - sorry for not posting it up, but I ran out of time to get it sorted: http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc298/v_lazy_dragon/Feb%202011%20game/

[Earther]

I've been toying with the idea of doing something similar myself of late. Those Mongrel Congo mercs are to blame! I love what you have done so far. There is a lot of clever repurposing of other ranges, which I like.

Consider me inspired and keep up the good work!

[v_lazy_dragon]

Thanks

The Mongrel Mercs are really good - I can also recommend the Brittania Congo range, although the difference in size/sculpting style may put people off using the two together.

As for the repurposing - I've got almost all of the 'actual' africa figures on the market, so these days I've got to be a bit creative... . It's quite amazing what can be used though, especially with some minor conversions

[Earther]

I thought the SCW guys as Paramiltary Police was a stonkingly good idea and one to pinch!

I was toying with using the AC57 US Federal Defence Troop as a UN intervention force:

314th Federal Defence Force Troop

I was planning on picking up the new Eureka ZANLA range for African regulars.

http://eurekamin.com.au/news.php?newsid=EFpEZElEFyMHdTLhhY

And maybe some of the Bolt Action Chindits by Mr Hicks for some more scruffy mercenaries. A few of the KKBB 60s/70s spy stuff could work too.

This is what I love about imagi-nations - you can get pretty creative with your figures, as you have shown so well! Looking forward to your updates.

Cheers.

[v_lazy_dragon]

Glad you like the SCW idea - those guys are some of my favourites. I keep meaning to get the FOA LMG team for them, just to beef them out a bit. (As it is, I usually treat the Bolt Action rifles as Semi-autos)

The AC57 figures would work really well for the UN - I may steal that idea! (Another possible idea I had was for Mongrel iserali's, but their Syrian commandos and/or Pakistani's would also work well)

I've got a selection of Chindits and US Marines from bolt action; as well as a selection of beret heads coming from gripping beast. They should work really nicely together; especially with some TAG SLRs to update some of the weapons. Some of the Eureka Rhodesians would also make good mercs, as would an assortment of vietnam special ops figures. did you see the lot of 'Congo Mercenaries' on eBay the other week? That had some cool ideas used in it...

The ZANLA figures are great and definitely on the wish list. They should go well with the currently OOP Mongrel Uniformed simbas.

[Earther]

Did you see the lot of 'Congo Mercenaries' on eBay the other week? That had some cool ideas used in it...

Missed that I'm afraid. For me, this project is one of those 'should I? shouldn't I?' types, so I wasn't actively looking.

But I'm wavering now…

They should go well with the currently OOP Mongrel Uniformed simbas.

Any idea if those simbas will be back in production? I saw the greens some time ago and they looked really good.

I considered the Eureka Nam Aussies too, but assumed they'd be too small to go with the Mongrel stuff…

[v_lazy_dragon]

@ Bezzo - I'd be interested to see pictures of your Kongolan figures. The idea of a mounted unit is very tempting - I'm currently keeping my fingers crossed that Eureka do some. I've got some Boer's I had left over from another project which I converted into more modern farmers, but I hadn't really thought much about the possibilities of adding to them due to the level of conversion that can be required (I'm just grateful that the Martini-Greener shotgun remained in common use in post war african, and to all intents and purposes looks identical to a Martini-Henry)... but I may have to see if I can do some mounted scouts/trackers at some point.   

@ Earther - If you do keep on wavering and want any help with insperation, I've got plenty of photos rattling around (Mainly the Congo & Rhodesian wars, although there are some from South Africa, the Mau-Mau rebellion and Biafra, as well as heaps sourced from more recent conflicts) and can recommend a couple of books depending on the sort of thing you're after...

I'm afriad I haven't a clue when those Simbas will be back in production; but if you are looking to bulk up the ZANLA figures then TAG might be worth a look. Most of their african stuff will work from the 70's onwards, often earlier with a bit or work (Packs vary from definite irregualrs to scruffy looking regulars). Again, depending on personal tastes, they might not be compatible... but they are a darned site closer than Brittania. You could also consider the mongrel Syrian Commandos or east germans, as they have fairly generic Combloc weapons and equipment, and shouldn't require much conversion (if any - The most intensive would probably be shaving a few 'taches of the Syrians)

[v_lazy_dragon]

As for the eureka Aussies, I checked, and they will be too small to work with Mongrel. The TAG Aussie infantry should be ok (Got my eyes on them to use as Not-Rhodesian African Rifles), but they may be a bit uniform to mix with the mercs?
 

[Earther]

Good advice on other figures there. I thought the Eureka Aussies would be on the diminutive side. Shame, as there are some brilliant poses. Forgot about TAG's.

I do have a fairly basic knowledge of the Simba uprising and Hoare's 5 Commando, but I'll probably invent my own African nation so as to gloss over some of the post-colonial nastiness - more Hollywood/Wild Geese than harsh reality for my 'sensitive' gaming group I'm afraid.

As an aside, I've just been to Newline and the mercs with uzis are already out of stock. Serves me right for procrastinating so much…

Bugger.

[v_lazy_dragon]

I also forgot that TAG's Africa range includes mercenaries, although they are a scruffy lot and I tend to use them in a seperate force to the Mongrel/Brittania 'Congo' mercs (who atleast seem to have a slightly more uniform feel).  Some of their chindits have good potential too (I have plans for head swaps on the Bren gun figures). The Artizan SAS in Europe figures could also be useful.

Certainly imagi-nations do help sidestep some of the darker aspects - one of the reasons I went down the route myself, although as time has gone on I've delved into history more and more. Wild Geese, Dogs of War and The Dark of the Sun (AKA The Mercenaries) are all great films (and books) to start on. The two fat lardies B'Maso! supplement is also an excellent resource.

Bad luck on the Uzi armed mercs - I managed to get hold of them, but I pounced as soon as they came into stock (been waiting for them for a while).

[Arlequín]

My imagi-nation is set in the Caribbean, but I've faced many of the same problems with regard to figures myself. The Mongrel Congo figures were a godsend and apologies for snapping up two packs of the Uzi armed mercs Earther. Like VLD, I've been waiting for what seems like forever for them too though! I've no doubt Newline will be restocking, but they've struggled to get re-stocks and only just got these at the start of April. Drop them an e-mail and they might let you know when they get them back in, they're quite helpful. 

I've found thinking outside the box is mainly what's required with figures for the 70's. Obviously I'm waiting to see how the Eureka Zanu figures will match in with others and there's some Portuguese in the works thanks to Carlos Marighela commissioning some (I believe some FPLA might be not long after them too). I went for Warlord US Marines along with Brigade US Marines for Government troops, and Chindits and more US Marines for the Revolutionaries, for the late 50s-early 60s. Some carving, head and weapon swaps, along with quantities of green stuff will be required, but the base material is there.

Fortunately for an imagi-nation some fudging of detail is fine, so the finer points can be hand-waved away. The more popular vehicles and helicopters are mostly available and Eureka are considering an Alouette III model. There is a hard to find Fujimi kit and an out of scale Revell one apparently in 1/48th scale, so keeping an eye on e-bay is worthwhile.

[Arlequín]

I entirely agree Bezzo, there doesn't seem to be anything I can recall vehicle or aircraft wise you can't get, there's even an expensive EBR armoured car out there. Where 20mm fails imo is with figures, but with Liberation Miniatures and Elheim plugging the gaps from time to time, there is not even likely to be that excuse before long.

[carlos marighela]

If you have patience and are prepared to search, there's quite a lot of kit out there for 28mm and I speak as a long time 20mm man. Actually for most things African you don't really need to wide a range of kit, especially if you are doing small skirmish scale games.  A mix of Soviet and Western,mostly French, kit suits most historical and imaginary nations.

Unimog trucks? Dinky do suitable ones that scale perfectly. Sikku produce a somewhat more modern version in 1/55.
AML armoured cars? Dinky do the AML 60 in 1/60, Solido the AML 90 in 1/50. FoA produce both in 1/56.

T-55s ( or T54s if you aren't too anal about these things) ? Chinese diecasts in 1/50-55 cheaps as chips on ebay, cheaper than a comparable 20mm kit or pre-paint. P-T-76? RLPS Jungle Rot range.

Flak? FoA's new 14.5mm ZPU-1 or Sloppy Jalopy's Zu-23-2. Eureka do an excellent 12.7mm DShKa and are set to produce ZANU crew.

I have now quite a large force of the Eureka ZANLA figures. Most are painted up as suitable FAPLA/PAIGC/ FRELIMO types but I've used the Eureka swat swoppet heads and some spare weapons to make a whole series of conversions for my West African imagi-nation. Paint most anything in woodland camo and arm it with an AKM and it looks suitably contemporary.

As for the Eureka Vietnam Australians, well it's a matter of taste but with a little basing magic they aren't that far off the mark. I use their stablemate Musorian bretheren for African regulars, Vietnamese regulars, Egyptians for the 1960s etc etc etc.

[v_lazy_dragon]

It was a tough decision between 20mm and 28mm... I have long been a 28mm player, and tend to prefer painting & fielding infantry rather than vehicles so in the end that settled it. As it turns out, there is a reasonable selection of vehicles out there, especially if you are using fictional settings or are able to field a reasonable amount of WW2 kit.

Anyway, here are the latest additions – again, hasty photos pre-basing:



Two white civilians from the Geezers range. These guys are going to be hostages/civilians to act as objectives in games.









Britannia miniatures Malayan War CTs. Originally painted up as intended… and then repainted when I decided they’d make good Africans. The shading looks hideous in th pictures, but is ok in real life. As the figures are slighter than the Europeans I was considering using them as bushmen or pygmies… but comparing them to most of my other figures, they are about the same size. They’ll probably just be used as a town militia unit or possibly a guerrilla faction (Trying to balance the ragged looking uniforms, mixed equipment and shotguns with the fact that they are actually in a uniform, and most of my figures aren’t).

And I also got the chance to do some conversions (more weapon swops to come):


Foundry Darkest Africa tribesmen, updated with some more modern weapons or with things like fezzes removed. (Some of the figures look a bit manky due to a semi-ineffective paint stripping. Still, with a little bit of work with a pin they should still clean up ok.). a few more of these fellows to make, they are going to bolster my tribal rebels (A cross between the Mau-Mau and the Simbas of the congo)


Warlord chindit radio operator – weapon swap.


Warlord US Marine Bar gunner, with a chindit head


And a couple of oddsies – the kneeling sikh will be becoming a merc (a homage to Quarbari Singh from Farcry 2), as will the para with the radio. The Sikh officer will be come a body guard for one of my African leaders, based after a photo of Kenyatta (?) with his sikh body guard.